I have the satisfaction of spotting something that has become a dark horse – interview with Jacek Jemielity

26 06 2025

Category: CeNT news, Main page, Research highlights

These four letters – mRNA – entered the public space during the pandemic, thanks to COVID-19 vaccines, although research on mRNA had already been going on for 40 years. The first clinical trials using mRNA were conducted in 2001, the first human administration in 2009. However, mRNA-based vaccines did not begin to be widely used until 2020.

mRNA is a recipe for protein. The human body, according to this recipe, can make a protein that helps it treat a disease. A great recipe, but mRNA has a weak point – it is unstable. This flaw was remedied in 2005 by a team led by Professor Jacek Jemielity. Another modification of mRNA developed by the team (this is last year’s news) makes it possible to produce, from the same amount of mRNA, much larger amounts of protein. And this research is groundbreaking, as the scientist is today at the forefront of mRNA specialists, and his name has already been mentioned among the 5-6 candidates for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in connection with this research.

Jacek is also attending the “Science4Business – Nauka dla biznesu” conference organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL-dMxvaDNo